Nurit Sharett > 2nd Week / 2ª Semana

While walking in the village one evening we heard women singing and followed their voices. We stood at the door and watched a group of women singing and dancing under the guidance of an older man. When they saw us they invited us to enter. It was a small room with a blackboard on one wall, with no characteristic signs. The women didn’t seem professional dancers or singers. When, with the help of a Chinese-speaking app, we asked whether there would be a performance, they nodded their heads. We didn’t understand the purpose of what seemed to be a rehearsal. As we were leaving they invited us to join them for dinner. But we were planning to meet with Liao, a sculptor who works with the residency. We told him about the singing women. He said that they were christians. He said that they were always very kind and invite people to join them, but that it was dangerous and we should better watch out.

The following day I passed by a building with a cross and I heard women singing; a similar song. Liao was right. It was a church.

With the help of Echo, our wonderful new Chinese teacher, I am already able to say a few sentences. Wo bu yao raw. (I don’t want meat). Which is a very important sentence for me. No matter where I travel, I always have to explain that I don’t eat meat. A Palestinian friend once gave me wine leaves, stuffed with rice an “just a little bit of meat” and she thought I wouldn’t realize it. In Italy a waiter was so surprised and said “poverina, non mangia carne” (poor you, you don’t eat meat). In Brazil I have been served duck, as it isn’t considered meat. The Chinese cuisine seems dominated by meat. I showed Echo, who helps me communicating with the people in the village, a few of the shots I took. Seeing the red menu, she said it was a restaurant which serves donkey meat only. We had eaten vegetarian soups and noodles there…I can also order hot or cold water. In many restaurants hot water is being served and not tea, as expected. The Chinese restaurants I remember from of my childhood always served Jasmin tea with the fortune cookies.

I am less obsessive about greeting everyone I see with “ni hau”, but I still do it often enough and it works as magic. I even managed to film in my favorite restaurant without assistance. Some portraits and shots of food. I started to walk with my video camera and the tripod. Collecting impressions and images. Portraying the village and the people, aware of my excitement about the exoticism of the place. The people, the sounds, the signs which I cannot read.

On Sunday we went out of town with a Swiss couple that has lived here for more than ten years. Oliver works for a big international company. It was a very gray day and suddenly I saw an big unidentified orange pile on the side of the road. Susanne explained that it was corn harvest time. The farmers would collect the corn, dry it in the sun and remove the grains. All is done without machines. We went for a short hike in nature, a small valley where nature grows without the interference of mankind. The bushes grow wild. But due to the big famine in the 60s there are no animals except some birds. On the way back to the car we passed through a stone quarry. The sight of the big machines and hills of cement and gravel of all different shades of gray reminded me of the film Metropolis.

On monday we woke up to a sunny day with blue sky. The first sunny day in a week. Now that I started to use a mask as well, I was happy to put it back in the bag and use it only while riding my bike in the sandy street near our studio. I have two masks. A white one for the day and a black one for the evening.